Labour Offering An EU Referendum Is 'Silly' - Ed Balls

Ed Balls has come out of the wood work today to say Labour offering an EU referendum is 'silly'. Is it just me or is this guy actually deliberately trying to lose votes?

This comes after Len McCluskey has said Labour should offer an EU referendum or risk being 'boxed in' during the 2015 election campaign. For once I agree with Len. Over half of the British people want a referendum on Europe and in a close General Election race this could prove decisive. Labour may also start to win some of their voters back, they have as big a problem with UKIP as the Conservatives in many marginal seats leave alone socialist heartlands like Rotheram where UKIP won a huge amount of council seats this year.

For once I agree with Len.

There is also a risk that Labour could be the only party not offering an EU referendum at the next General Election. The Conservatives, UKIP and many minor parties will for sure, but rumours in Lib Dem HQ are that they will offer a referendum too.* In the end Len may force Labour's hand; he is bank rolling their whole General Election campaign after all. Of course this would make Ed Balls' comments look even more 'silly'.

Own Goal by not backing a referendum on the EU.

One other question that needs answering is why is Ed Balls, as Shadow Chancellor, in Labour's 'economic week', talking about an EU referendum? Is that really on topic? Ed Balls should be talking about you know the economy. Perhaps it is that Labour has got nothing to say on Economy and must resort to following the Conservatives in only talking about their policies? This seems most likely. At least we know one thing, it's one great Balls up.



*Not that anyone will believe them after they have already under Cleggers promised a referendum and deliberately broke that in government.

The EU Referendum Bill Returns

Today the EU Referendum Bill returns. The Private Members Bill sponsored by Bob Neill MP, Bromley and Chislehurst, and backed by the whole Conservative Party will for the second time receive its first reading again.

Dave and the Rest of the Conservative Party are backing the EU Referendum Bill. Are you?

The EU Referendum Bill was first introduced by James Wharton MP, Stockton South, in 2013 to show the Conservatives commitment to holding an In/Out referendum on European Union membership. The Bill will state that a referendum must held before 2017 and, although no parliament can bind its successor, a future Parliament would have to overturn this Bill not to be bound by it.

James Wharton with John Redwood supporting an EU Referendum for Britain.

The EU Referendum Bill has already had a tough ride. The Liberal Democrats and Labour Party refused to support the Bill in the House of Commons chamber but tried to talk out the Bill during its committee stage. This point was passed however after many long nights of Lib Dem and Labour MPs adding pointless amendments which had to be all voted upon and taking for hours about trivial historical information on the 31st of December. Sadly though the Bill did not pass in the House of Lords where the Lib Dems and Labour Party did indeed vote this Bill down. The Wharton Bill was no more.

But now it is back. The House of Lords, under the Parliament Acts, can no longer stop this proposed Bill. The Prime Minster and the Commons can choose to override the House of Lords if it again votes down the EU Referendum Bill. The only place this Bill can now be killed off is in the House of Commons. Is Ed Miliband strong enough to get his MPs to vote against an EU referendum? Unlikely.

Bob Neill jubilant over his major part in the #LetBritainDecide campaign.

Bob Neill has an article in the Daily Express today saying 'This isn’t a Bill that will mean Britain leaves the EU or stays in it. It’s a Bill to end the cancer that has eaten at our democratic life for more than a generation: that of the political elite refusing to let the people decide – after renegotiation – Britain’s future relationship with Europe. We believe it’s such a fundamental decision that the choice should rest with the whole electorate.'

It is only the Conservatives who will #LetBritainDecide by giving you a referendum on Europe and by the end of this Parliamentary session this commitment is likely to be enshrined in statute. You can help the Conservatives and Bob Neill by co-sponsoring the EU Referendum Bill here.

Tom Hunt Campaigns Across The East

After the success of my last post, here is another photo round up about what my friend Tom Hunt has been doing in his campaigning efforts as 5th of the list to be a Conservative MEP in the East. Tom has really made huge efforts to get around the whole region from the North Norfolk coast to the London commuter towns. Let's see where he has been.

A few days ago Tom went to Bishops' Stortford where he came across Mr Simms Olde Sweet Shoppe. Of course he went into canvass to see if the sweet shop owners are on side and I'm pleased to report they are. I love these sort of shops so let's hope Tom has saved me some liquorice torpedoes.

Tom also went Borehamwood with Geoffrey Van Orden MEP where they spotted in a car park one of the famous Conservative posters for the European Elections. Remember it's only the Conservatives that can deliver the country an in-out referendum on Europe. Be sure to vote for that on Thursday.

Having taken a break from appearing on Towie as 'man in background', Stephen Canning joined Tom Hunt as he campaigned in Braintree. There was a lot of support of the ground from the Braintree Tories and hopefully this will thus be a strong area in the elections. How very Reem.

Tom is not one to shy away from a debate and promote the fact that the Conservatives want either a heavily reformed EU or for us to leave. He thus took on other party representatives in a debate at King's College, Cambridge. Doesn't the UKIP man look grumpy.

Tom also went to his home town of Ely to campaign in the town centre with both Geoffrey Van Orden MEP and David Campbell Bannerman MEP. Tom is a councillor in Ely South Ward where he works very hard. He hopes that his constituents will come out and vote for him again in the EU elections.

Tom has also been near to where I live in Gorefield where he and all the other MEP candidates spoke to residents about the EU and answered questions. This was at the time of the Roman Bank by-election, won by cool Conservative Sam Clark. This event was enjoyed by all and afterwards the Euro-candidates gave Sam a hand and did a bit of campaigning for her.

Tom was back with David Campbell Bannerman with a street stall in Hitchin market place. I guess by this time Tom has handed out tens of thousands of the Euro leaflets. I hope that they convince enough people to back the Conservatives in up and coming elections to keep the pressure of the Eurocrats.

Tom then went to Rochford and Southend with James Dudridge MP. Other notable campaigners include Andrew Thorpe-Apps who has been doing a lot of good work in the south of the region. Also there's a guy in tweed I recognise from Nottingham. Not quite sure what he does in the Conservative Party, probably just a very keen activist. Maybe he'll get a role on the NUCA committee next year, who knows?

Back with Geoffrey Van Orden wearing out the leather on the streets of Thetford. Tom has been to all the edges and now the centre of the Eastern region.

Tom was joined by Mark Prisk MP to campaign in Ware, Hertfordshire. I wonder who 'Keith Ian' is.

And finally Tom visited Welwyn Garden City which was built by Ebenezer Howard in the 1920s. Tom enjoyed some chicken tikka and rice in a break before he ventured out on the campaign trail again.

As you can see Tom has been very busy. It would be a shame not to vote for someone who has worked so hard. I really want to see hard work rewarded so please vote Conservative this Thursday.

Euro Action Day In Wollaton

For the last few weeks the Nottingham Conservatives have been out every Saturday in Wollaton canvassing local opinions with residents' surveys (sadly I have been too busy the last few weekends to help until today). However this Saturday was slightly different as we combined our normal survey about local issues with a message concerning the European Elections on May 22nd. To defend the national interest and to Let Britain Decide, vote Conservative for the Euros.

Getting ready to set off.

We had a fair number of activists out, some coming later in the day, ready to get listen to the problems and concerns of the good people of Wollaton. Also there was Jane Hunt the Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Nottingham South. Jane is a really lovely lady and had a very successful time in picking up complaints she will try to sort on the door. 

Jane off to meet some more residents.

There were a number of issues in Wollaton that were raised by residents. One that kept cropping up was state of the pavements and roads. One lady told me she had been living in Wollaton for 42 years and in that time the roads have not been properly resurfaced at all. In my opinion that is an unacceptable amount of time. The problem with actually getting a mass repair of pavements and roads in Wollaton is that the council for a long period have refused consistently to give a lot of money to this project. A few areas have been patched up by the local Conservative councillors with a small pot of money they have, but it is clearly not enough. I have no idea why the council have not been so unhelpful. Some residents told me they were biased against Wollaton. I hope this is not true, it would seem a unfair.

Brendan and his jacket outside the Hemlock Stone and Dragon Pub.

We were later joined by Brendan Clarke Smith, the 5th Conservative MEP candidate on the list for the East Midlands. Brendan is the local Nottingham candidate for the Euros. He lives in Clifton, where he has been a councillor for some time in the past, and is a teacher of politics at a secondary school. Brendan turned up to help in the afternoon, wearing a very 1980s pastel green jacket, after helping Ken Clarke MP in the morning. Ken had been campaigning with Brendan in Rushcliffe on a street stall. There seems to have been a lot of Euro Election campaigning across the country by the Conservatives today. I hope the British public will listen and vote wisely taking into consideration that it is only the Conservatives that will Let Britain Decide over Europe on May 22nd.

There was another prominent local Conservative out in Wollaton too. We were joined by Cllr Roger Steel from Clifton North who always works very hard for Wilford, Silverdale, the Grove and the northern part of the Clifton estate. Roger took some time out from helping his constituents to aid his Conservative friends in Wollaton today. I think it's good to see the local Conservatives working together.  

Jane with Clifton North councillor, Roger Steel.

Another new member of the team was Ifte. He has recently joined the Conservatives and is very keen to help us get a majority government. He has told me he was persuaded to help the Conservatives because of Dave's long term economic plan*. He seriously wants to defend our strong economy as its the only way for people, especially the young, to get back into employment.

Jane and Ifte.

People of Wollaton please vote for the Conservatives and an EU Referendum in the European Elections on May 22nd.

*I hope you're happy Lynton with that line drop, although Ifte genuinely joined the Conservatives for Dave's good economic handling.

Weekly Poll Lowdown

Democracy lives on through #ThingsElliottSays' weekly poll. 69% of you want there to be a referendum on the EU. 31% are either Lib Dems or members of the House of Lords, that fine democratic institution. But it's good to see that roughly you're on the money when it comes to public opinion. The Let Britain Decide Literature proudly boasts that 62% of people want a referendum on Europe according to YouGov. 70% was also the average amount of people who wanted a vote on the EU when the People's Pledge conducting a few polls in marginal constituencies up and down the country.

Should we Let Britain Decide over Europe?

Yes	69%
No	31%
Unsure	0%

Total votes: 65

It will come as no surprise to you that I would like to see a referendum on the EU. For far too long we have had no say on the matter and considering, either through deception or massive evolution, the EU is no longer the trading bloc we signed up to in the 1970s we deserve to say whether we should be in it or not. In a truly functioning democracy I think people deserve a say. That is why I think Labour and the Lib Dems are making a big mistake over this referendum.

The Lib Dems, although they are trying to chase the people who are solid Europhiles, are not actually defending their beliefs. Challenging Nigel Farage to a debate on LBC and saying the odd word about how we must stay in Europe is not going to win them many of these votes. What a Europhile voter would respond to the best, even if they don't per se want a referendum*, would be to engage with the Let Britain Decide campaign by backing a referendum in the House of Commons. A robust defence of the European Union could see us stay inside it. There is undoubtedly going to be an EU referendum now but the decision to leave is by no means decided and is a very big ask. Its not like this tactic hasn't been tried in some way with great success by the Lib Dems before.

Don't you wish the Lib Dems would keep to their promises.

Labour too have missed a good chance because they could have essentially nulled any polling gain the Conservatives could have from this referendum. As polling suggests time and again Europe is not the biggest problem as seen by the average voter. This is mostly because the EU is actually fairly distant in a lot of respects to everyday life, not that everyone over a copy of a newspaper doesn't have a breakfast table moan about the EU with an inevitable article everyday. But people still care and there is a small but not insignificant amount of voters who do have the European Union as a top priority especially when combined with immigration. If Labour wants a realistic majority, because their 35% strategic will not work depending on how well previous Lib Dem voters dig in, they need to try win back some of the people concerned with Europe and immigration that follows from it.

This man, who lined his pockets with millions from Brussels, may be a reason why Labour won't back a referendum.

I would be surprised if all the main parties do not have a referendum in their manifesto for these reasons; although stranger things have happened. Personally I am very likely to vote out, Dave will have to get a lot back if he wants my vote in 2017. When trade is shrinking inside the EU and the rest of the world is booming, what's the point of shackling ourselves to a cartel?

Vote in the New Poll.

* A fair proportion of those who want a vote have already decided they want to stay in Europe but want people to voice their opinions.

Socialist #Shame

Labour are apparently changing their attitude to James Wharton's Bill on the EU Referendum. Labour backbenchers are trying to make out that their party, both members and leadership, are slowly changing what they think about a vote on Europe. Sadly they are very wrong and thus I say to the whole Labour Party, in Port and Policy style, #Shame.

Port and Policy #Shame to Labour.

For starters the Labour Party wanted its MPs only to abstain at the second reading of the EU referendum Bill. Which is fine if you want to show the world a lack of spine. However, several Labour MPs voted for no guillotine motion on the Bill meaning they were attempting to filibuster the Bill to death. Which shows how great democracy is appreciated by some of our elected representatives. These MPs were:

Diane Abbott, Hackney North & Stoke Newington

Douglas Alexander, Paisley & Renfrewshire South

Heidi Alexander, Lewisham East

Jonathan Ashworth, Leicester South

William Bain, Glasgow North East

Luciana Berger, Liverpool, Wavertree

Lyn Brown, West Ham

Alan Campbell, Tynemouth

Wayne David, Caerphilly

Thomas Docherty, Dunfermline & West Fife

Jim Dowd, Lewisham West & Penge

Michael Dugher, Barnsley East

Jim Fitzpatrick, Poplar & Limehouse

Mike Gapes, Ilford South

Meg Hillier, Hackney South & Shoreditch

Julie Hilling, Bolton West

Huw Irranca-Davies, Ogmore

Graham Jones, Hyndburn

Susan Elan Jones, Clwyd South

David Lammy, Tottenham

Ian Lucas, Wrexham

Kerry McCarthy, Bristol East

Andrew Miller, Ellesmere Port & Neston

Stephen Pound, Ealing North

Emma Reynolds, Wolverhampton North East

Nick Smith, Blaenau Gwent

Mark Tami, Alyn & Deeside

Stephen Timms, East Ham

Karl Turner, Kingston upon Hull East

Chris Williamson, Derby North

Phil Wilson, Sedgefield

Rosie Winterton, Doncaster Central

To these Labour MPs we say jointly #Shame. I hope your constituents remember this well.*

 James Wharton MP is the lucky person having to deal with the shameful Labour MPs trying to wreck the Bill.

But the disgrace becomes greater because Labour and Lib Dem MPs are now attempting to filibuster the Bill in committee stage. Over 20 amendments had be proposed to the Bill some doing things as trivial to change the date. The debate went on for hours with one MP commenting on the historical significance of the date of the 31st December. This was planned to go on through the night and diaries were rearranged for the next day. Yesterday however at 1am the committee finished. James Wharton tweeted of the event 'Finally making progress on EU Ref Bill committee, should get through a few amendments and be well placed to return in Sept #LetBritainDecide.' I do not envy his position doing this again in October.

The EU Referendum Bill is going to have to stay for a very long time a committed stage the way the socialists are behaving. 

To all those Labour and Lib Dem filibusterers #Shame. The people if this country should have their say.

*I would like to point out there are 6 Labour MPs who I exclude from any #Shame because they voted for the EU Referendum Bill. These are: 

Roger Godsiff, Birmingham

Kate Hoey, Vauxhall

Kelvin Hopkins, Luton North

Dennis Skinner, Bolsover

Graham Stringer, Blackley & Broughton

Gisela Stuart, Birmingham, Edgbaston

Growing Optimism

Optimism in the UK is up whether you're in business or in the Conservative Party. The IMF and recent consumer confidence data is starting to show the start of an economic recovery. Because of this, Labour's woes and the Referendum Bill the Conservatives are also feeling a boost. But should both Tories and the general public feel good about the future?

First to the economy and yes things may be about to start to pick up. Business and Consumer Confidence is at an 8 year high and the IMF has said that 0.9% of growth is coming our way this year which is much better than last year's 0.2%. And this year there has been a bit of help from the government with the 1% decrease in corporation tax and a freeze in capital gains tax. But more importantly in boosting confidence there has been some pretty targeted cuts, where alcohol and petrol is now a lot cheaper than it would have been under Labour.

We are back at pre recession levels with consumer confidence but still a while to go before we reach the point the crash actually happened.

The bad news on the economy front is that the confidence from people isn't based on something totally solid. There hasn't been as many tax cuts by the Government as I have would have liked to see. This isn't the case with the Coalition Government which seem to be relying on positive words and a feel good factor, explaining the for the longevity not of recession of going nowhere and then a sudden pick up. The repetition of 'Aspiration Nation' is not necessarily a bad per se but if things go badly or not as good as the small amount of confidence predicts then the economy will be flat again. But then again most economies have a problem like this.

Overall however the economy has made the Conservatives moderately happy and rightly so because it is because of them putting pressure on George Osborne to add these specific tax cuts that we are seeing some sort of change in the economy. The Conservative Party has been on a roll recently to dictating the amount of spending that will happen in the next parliament to pushing the issue of a referendum on Europe.

What does the opposition think at the moment? Well nothing useful as Labour says it wants to match spend the same but wants to borrow more and will not back the basic principles democracy. What's even worse for Labour is they screwing up massively in Falkirk and day by every single constituency in the UK seems to have Labour candidates selected by Unite in a way that is bordering/maybe illegal. The Conservatives are united and aiding a recovery whilst Labour is anything but. No wonder the poll ratings show a decrease in support for Labour.

The Conservatives are really uniting around the EU Referendum Bill.

So all in all good times. But hold on, the Tories should be weary just like the public. The economy is yet to be confirmed to be definitely on the up, the 1st quarter of this year saw only 0.3% of economic growth. Divisions on Europe are unlikely to come back with the Referendum Bill but if it fails tensions may creep up again. Also what if Ed Miliband suddenly supports it? Falkirk could go two ways now. Ed could look strong and shun the Unions to help Labour or look weak and want their money, although either way it is not good for him really.

Labour is still more popular than its leader will ever be.

In general things are looking better though. Red Ed is too dithering to decide whether he should have jam or butter on his toast and things getting worse for the Government seems a distant prospect now. The only major worry is not to make everyone too over confident. The austerity isn't over yet.

One thing we can rely on is the Red Ed will still be weak.

#LetBritainDecide

Today is the vote for the European Referendum at Second Reading. Both Labour and the Lib Dems have told their MPs to stay away and abstain, although some have disregarded this. Both Labour and the Lib Dems do not just want you to not have your say on Europe, but cannot argue against having a referendum. So Labour and the Lib Dems have decided will not vote for it. The only party that can let you have your say on Europe is the Conservatives.

The Lib Dems won't vote for this Bill despite demanding one before the last General Election.

Don't bother with UKIP they will only let Labour in and the more time goes on it is clear they are in it for the Brussels gravy train rather than protecting the UK. UKIP MEPs rarely turn up to any votes and when they do they vote against protecting Great Britain, for example all UKIP MEPs voted to reject a real terms cut in the EU budget. They probably still wanted all those massive expenses MEPs get.

James Wharton's Bill has the full backing of all Conservative MPs from the Prime Minister to Sir Peter Tappsell, the Father of the House. The Conservatives are united in making sure that everyone in the Country by 2017 has had the chance to decide whether to be in the EU or out of the EU. Vote Conservative in 2015 to have your say.

Watch the debate here.

UPDATE

William Hague gave a Great Speech to the House, the Highlights are above. Thanks to Media Guido.

Stunt Man

Today Danny Alexander has been on the air decrying the EU Referendum Bill, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by James Wharton, as 'a parliamentary stunt'. Unsurprisingly then he and all the other Lib Dem MPs will not be in Parliament next week for the vote for it, just like Ed Miliband has told MPs. Their non attendance on such a crucial national matter is a political stunt to not recognise the motion itself is so large that I'm surprised they haven't paid for advertising space in all the major newspapers.

David Cameron is accused of being a stuntman. He may have had a small job in PR before but I doubt people believe a debate on Europe is a stunt.

Both Labour and Lib Dems are effectively saying that the EU debate itself is not legitimate, of no interest to them and therefore nobody should have a say on it. By taking the risk of not turning up they themselves have taken the idea of democracy and in front of everyone said how awful it is as they don't want the British people to have vote on the issue.

Labour and Liberal Democrats don't show a lot of care for democracy.

Why is that though, because anyone who speaks to people realises this is a big issue of the time? There are only two conclusions that can be drawn really. First is they think the people of this country are stupid. We, the great masses of the people, cannot decide on how our country should be governed. This is a very risky strategy for Labour if they want to win a majority from a public that is mostly eurosceptic. For the Lib Dems too there are problems because the rejection of their ideas of 'liberalism' and 'social democracy' will dwindle into obscurity along with the party.

Danny Alexander is seemingly shocked that the people have the right to decide what happens in the country.

Secondly they don't believe the arguments for staying in the EU are ones that people benefit from, they're only in it for themselves. Self interest from personal benefit and their ideas of a collective Europe and a bigger state so that they are in charge is more important than democracy and actually better lives for people. No wonder Lib and Lab MEPs did not back the budget cut to the EU until very recently. It would be easier to see why they don't back any democratic changes to the country that actually gives people more power. The idea of power over people seems to be a big feature of Left wing politics and this is yet again paraded out.

The biggest move to get noticed by the other two parties on the position of Europe is seemingly the lack of democracy and debate on the issue. They want to send out a bizarre message of power away from people and have put it in lights and get lots of dancing girls to parade around it. To me this seems to be a bigger stunt, but one that is peculiar in telling voters they have no right in deciding what goes on in the country.

The Biggest stunt is surely demanding a referendum on Europe and then not doing so when in power.